Shrimpers raising a ruckus on Mt. Hope Bay

Residents complain of early hours and loud engines, but harbormaster said fishermen are within their rights

EastBayRI.com ·

Fishermen going after mantis shrimp in Mt. Hope Bay are to blame for the loud noises many residents in the Hopeworth and Narrows section of Bristol have complained about for the last week or so.

There’s good news and bad news. Bristol Harbormaster Gregg Marsili said Tuesday that the town's noise ordinance is not enforceable over open water. The good news? The shrimp fishing season should wrap up in a week or two, he said, and the boats will be gone.

Mr. Marsili received calls from residents last week and over the weekend, who complained about the volume of engine noise coming from the bay and the early hours they were working — later than 2 a.m. in some cases. He went out Sunday and spoke to DEM and Bristol police officers, who told him they don’t have the authority to enforce the town’s noise ordinance over water. Despite the early hour the three or four fishing boats are out, the shrimpers are within their rights to fish overnight, he said, and have all the required documents and certifications to fish there.

The boats are in the bay now because mantis shrimp, which normally live submerged in the mucky bay bottom, come out for a brief period in the fall. Bristol resident Bob Morris, who once owned the Jarrod Seth and now fishes for mantis aboard his Living Waters, used to be the only fisherman to target the little-known species. But demand for mantis shrimp is on the rise in Asia and the profits to be made have drawn several other boats out to the bay this year.

Four or five inches long, mantis shrimp are aggressive crustaceans with razor sharp arms that can inflict serious cuts on those who handle them, thus their local nickname “thumb busters.”